Environmental groups sue state over dairy farm rules

8:17 PM,
Jul. 29, 2013

Written by

Jon Campbell
Albany Bureau

A coalition of environmental organizations sued the state Department of Environmental Conservation late last week, claiming the state's effort to roll back dairy farm regulations violates both New York and federal law.

The groups, including the Sierra Club, Riverkeeper and Citizens Campaign for the Environment, say the state violated the federal Clean Water Act when it moved earlier this year to increase the number of cows that farms can maintain without having to comply with a more-restrictive set of waste-management regulations.